


Stay in the Moment

by enchantedlightningwrites



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Costume Party, F/F, Femslash February, Fluff and Angst, POV Zari Tomaz, and so am i, lmaooo Zari's a complete mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 19:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29495382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/enchantedlightningwrites/pseuds/enchantedlightningwrites
Summary: While in a mission, the team receives a surprise when a fellow teammate wears a costume they never expected. And Zari gets lots of feelings for it and Amaya enjoys herself in her selected outfit.
Relationships: Amaya Jiwe/Zari Tomaz
Kudos: 1
Collections: Flarrowverse Femslash February Bingo 2021





	Stay in the Moment

**Author's Note:**

> For the square of my bingo card: Costume Party. Enjoy!!!

Did they really have to go on a mission like this? Like _today_?

Arranging her hair into a simple ponytail, Zari tied it with an elastic band. She threw a splash of water on her face, then wiped it with the nearest towel.

She sighed. Whatever. They could get over with this mission and go on with their day.

Now she was ready and had just changed into her costume for the party, which was where they located the latest anachronism. Some top fashion designer, who wasn't supposed to be aware of the clothing styles in 2007.

The captain decided to pursue this mission, because she needed an easy task to get the Time Bureau off their tail. It was one person, so she believed it would be easy. Even though it wasn't exactly on the team's record, to be honest.

Zari surveyed her costume and pressed her mouth into a thin line.

Maybe she could have gone as some video game character but she didn't. She considered Lara Croft or Mario but maybe there would be other people dressing up as them, so she wanted to go as something different.

Instead she mashed up some clothes and decided to pick a green jacket, a black shirt, blue jeans, and converse style black sneakers. She wore it because it kinda resembled a simple superhero costume but without the extra details. Sure, she didn't put on a mask but she didn't need one.

Plus, she felt comfortable and casual in this costume. It might break the rules because this outfit combo probably didn't exist until later.

Maybe she should check on her other teammates and see what costumes they would be wearing. She walked along in the direction of the fabrication room.

Zari stopped her pace when she found a few of her teammates inside. One of them in a costume and the other not in any. She almost dropped her jaw at the unexpected choice of her best friend. She thought he might dress up as a character from Star Wars or something equally nerdy.

Nate held some make-up brush and a bottle of glitter. He had a fedora on, but he still wore the casual clothes she saw him in a few hours ago. Huh. Maybe Sara told him to stay here for backup.

While Ray seemed sparkly– literally. The shimmering pale pink sweater and pants fitted him as if he got it from having a magical transformation sequence. A pair of green fairy wings was attached on his back and he had little sprinkles of glitter applied on his face.

After she coughed, the guys turned to look at her.

"Hey, Z!" Ray waved, cheerful and excited as ever. "Cool costume, you got there!"

"Thanks," she replied, taking extra steps into the room. "Pink looks great on you. Never thought you'd wear it for this mission."

"Aw, thanks." Ray smiled, slightly wiping something from his face. "I kinda went all for it, though. I had a hard time choosing what to wear."

Nate perched down on an ottoman, putting the supplies down. "Phew, my work here is done. I didn't expect putting glitter to be hard."

"You're dressed as a fairy," Zari said, crossing her arms. "Let me guess. . . you've been watching too many of those magical girl shows."

"It's just an excuse to put on glitter," Ray confessed sheepishly.

"And I'd be dumb not to admit that pink does suit you," Nate replied, lowering the brush. "And your face is shiny with all the glitter. Is it too much?"

Ray glanced at the mirror. "No, it's enough. I feel good, it feels great to wear something pastel. I should wear these kind of colors more often."

"If I was included in the mission, I'd be Indiana Jones," Nate admitted. "Wouldn't miss an opportunity to try to be like him. Plus, Halloween's still too far in 2017."

It would have been interesting if Nate was going to join the mission. However, this thing still held her interest and she was willing to go with it. What costumes did the other selected teammates had?

"Is anyone else going with us?" Zari asked.

"Sara's joining," Ray answered, fixing his hair. "And I think we have a forth one, but I'm not sure if–"

The sound of boots clicking on the floor stopped him from speaking further and they all turned to look at the doorway. Zari scrunched her face at the person entering the fabrication room, a intricate white mask concealing the eyes. Her mouth dried with recognition at the mysterious figure.

Nate froze, staring blankly at their teammate. Ray scrutinized them, his eyes slowly going wide.

"Tuxedo Mask?" Ray and Nate exclaimed in unison as they dropped their jaws.

Zari stood still. "Wait. . . Amaya, is that you?"

Amaya let the long cape flutter behind her. She lifted the mask, her dark eyes sparkling. She wore a silk white button shirt that hugged her waist, long silk dark pants that fitted her like second skin, and fancy dancing shoes. Holy, Sailor Moon.

She leapted into the room, spinning one foot.

"Is something weird with my costume?" Amaya asked, furrowing her brows. "Because all of you are staring at me."

Ray winced, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, you just caught me off guard."

Nate shook his head and made some sound with his mouth.

"So, you're going as Tuxedo Mask?"

"Yes, I am," Amaya answered with a quick nod. "Are you okay, Nathaniel? You seem a little shocked."

Nate choked out a hysterical laugh.

"It's just that he was my first fictional crush," Nate blurted out, sounding ashamed. "And, uh, seeing you in that, makes me kinda nervous."

"Oh." Amaya's eyes fell downcast. "For all our time together, you didn't tell me that."

Nate shrugged as he tucked his arms at the sides.

"Listen, Chiba Mamrou is a total dreamboat and my thirst for him is insane."

With a shake of her head, Amaya chuckled. Ray did too, covering his mouth. Zari blinked, trying to comprehend the information that she just heard. Now she has added another reason to roast Nate with further proof.

Who knew Nate had a crush on Tuxedo Mask?

"Who's idea was it?" Ray asked, clearing his throat.

"I saw that Nate was watching some show," Amaya answered. "And I noticed a mysterious masked man on the screen and I thought that costume looked nice, so I decided to ask Gideon to re-create it for me."

And those results turned out to be a complete masterpiece, Zari thought. She tightened her fist in her pocket. Crap. Did Amaya had to look that good in that gorgeous yet out of nowhere costume?

Nate clapped, his stare with complete admiration. He stood up, still examining her costume before raising his head at the ceiling.

"Damn, look at that fabric. Silky and embroidered with a floral pattern that would absolutely suit Chiba. Gideon, this might be your best handiwork yet."

"Thank you, Dr. Heywood," Gideon replied, her voice filled with pride. "I decided to make Miss Jiwe's attire as accurate to the original as possible. While adding extra touches, of course."

The door opened to reveal their captain getting into the room. She dressed up as a cowgirl, then she tipped her hat at them.

"Howdy, fellas." Sara sauntered in, before catching the sight of– "Whoa, Amaya, look at you. Didn't think you'd be into Sailor Moon."

Amaya's lips twitched into a grin. "Actually, I wasn't sure what costume to wear until I remembered this 'Tuxedo Mask' character."

"You made the right choice," Sara said, looking at the costume with approval. "Now we'll just sneak into the party, snatch our fashion designer, and voila, we'll be outta there in no time."

"You're saying that like it's easy or somethin'," Mick mumbled, slightly staggering into the room.

Sara scoffed. "Well, it's not going to be, but we can take this one. How hard can it be to return Mr. Versace back to his own time?"

"Don't jinx the mission, please," Nate said. "Gianni Versace is a high profile fashion designer. Who knows what could happen?"

"And in a costume party, I'm pretty sure the guy's not gonna like what he sees." Ray grimaced, tsking. "The 2000's was a pretty dark place for fashion. I mean there's some good fashion lines and releases but it wasn't that groundbreaking."

The team stared at him, their expressions ranging from being weirded out to surprised, and Zari raised her brows at her friend's surprising knowledge on the subject.

"What? I lived in the 2000's." Ray blinked. "I used to wear an argyle sweater before I discovered better clothing."

"Right," Zari said, stretching out the syllable.

The others regarded him with disbelief but Sara gained their attention by a quick whistle.

"Now the plan is to infiltrate the party without drawing any suspicion on our part and scan the area for Versace. Once we find him, we draw him out and convince him that we'll return him back to his time."

"Which will hopefully be easy to do," Amaya commented, her posture stiff.

"Mick, you, Nate, Jax, and the Professor will stay on the ship," Sara explained further. "If anything goes wrong, I'll call any of you for backup. Hopefully, we won't have to."

Mick pressed a hand over his chest. "Thank f**k, I won't have to wear a costume and look like a damn idiot."

"The costumes aren't bad," Ray interjected.

Mick leaned away, not hiding how sleepy he was.

"Whatever," Mick mumbled, already walking off into the hallway. "See ya later."

Nate raised a hand to wave at them. "Good luck, guys. Hopefully, this will be an easy win."

Ray waved back at him, Amaya gave an acknowledging nod, and Sara tipped her hat by the time he strolled from the room. Zari gave a peace sign before dropping her palm at her side.

Someone tapped her in the shoulder and she found Amaya standing beside her. She almost shook at the alarming proximity. So near and her pulse started to jump.

Amaya offered an arm to her. "Do you want me to keep you company, Z?"

The rate of her heart beat tripled, and her breath got caught in her throat. However, she wasn't gonna let her nerves get the best of her. So, she screamed on the inside and tried to smile through it.

"Absolutely, Mysterious Masked Lady," Zari replied, letting her arm be linked to hers.

"C'mon, guys, let's go get our designer!" Sara clapped her hands and began leading the team into the mission.

  
***

  
It turned out that getting the anachronism was easier than they anticipated. No complaints, no fighting or chaos let loose, just plain explanation and baam, they managed to get Versace into the ship with no trouble.

The designer decided that he wanted out of this time, for he didn't feel too attached to the 2000's because of it's questionable change in fashion. So, Sara did a touch down before telling a teammate to pick the guy up.

Instead of being some snobby designer, she had been surprised by how fascinated he had been when he observed everyone's costumes, including the team's. Even more surprising, he remarked that Amaya's 'Tuxedo Mask' costume was his favorite, for she –and to quote– 'carried an enigmatic grace'.

And, she found herself agreeing with that.

Sara called Mick to bring Versace into the ship without causing any damage. For a change.

Now they were all in the clear, but Ray managed to beg Sara to stay for a little while. The party didn't escalate, so they had a chance to not blow up their cover.

Zari surveyed the room, scanning the decorations around. They sure did hang lots of fake spiders and bats on the upper portion of the wall, placed mini Jack O'Lanterns on the table, and covered the buffet table with a ghost tablecloth. These fancy rich people sure took Halloween to the next level.

Most of the guests attending the party wore costumes not that inspired by popular culture. But popular mythical figures and she recognized outfits from Lord of the Rings. There were literally three people as Gandalf for some reason and she winced at how a vampire tried to flirt with one of them. She snatched a packet of popcorn from the tray held by the butler, who dressed up as Zoo-something.

When the team got into the party, a girl dressed as Sailor Moon had tried to hit it off with Amaya. But she had declined her offer much to Zari's relief. . .

Not that she cared or anything. It would have freaked her out if they got moves on each other. That was all.

Sara stuck her tongue at the skeevy host, who dressed up as Gomez Addams and speaking to a towering person dressed as Frankenstein (the doctor, not the monster). Bleh. The poor quality of the costume did an unforgivable injustice to the character.

The captain downed on her drink before Ray went up to her. She turned to him and their gazes wandered to the corner of the living room.

"Gotta admit this really takes me back to the awkward good ol' days," Sara murmured. "Can't believe that it's like yesterday, I used to hold a Blackberry in my hands."

"And I used to have a Nokia cell in mine," Ray replied, sounding nostalgic. "I'll never stop being amazed by how technology evolved through the years. Oh, look at that, Captain! Can I please check it out?"

"Okay," Sara replied with an exhausted sigh.

The two of them wandered off into different parts of the room on their own, probably thinking about how they feel old at the sight of the blast from the past. Well, that was how Zari always felt when she saw something familiar and remembered how long it had been.

She almost jumped when she looked behind and saw Amaya right there. Even with the mask on, she could see the amusement in her face.

"Wow, they really have strong feelings about this decade," Amaya murmured, locking her eyes with hers. "Even though it had only been ten years for them."

How she wasn't afraid to initiate the first move could have stolen her breath away. Amaya, always sure and kind, gazed at her with a smile blooming on her face. She didn't want to look away even if she could.

Zari snickered. "Believe me, I'm glad I wasn't born for the first nine years of the twenty-first century."

With another step forward, Amaya held a hand out and Zari blinked. No way, this couldn't be happening.

"May I have your hand for this dance, Tomaz?" Amaya asked in a soft request of invitation.

Zari stared at her hand, scrambling her mind for the right words.

Well, she wouldn't have another chance like this again. She shouldn't let it go to waste or else, she might have a long lifetime of reg–

Throwing the popcorn packet into the nearest trash can, she dusted her hands. She let a breath out and couldn't stop the happy beat thumping in her heart. She didn't have time to deal with the doubts and the stunts it pulled on her.

"Sure." Zari smiled, always willing and ready to go with Amaya, wherever she went.

Amaya slipped her hands into Zari's, leading her to the dance floor among all the other dancers as a mellow ballad played from the speakers. She almost stiffened when Amaya settled a hand over her waist and forced herself to breathe while resting a hand on her shoulder. She wanted to say something but something bubbled in her chest. Maybe emotions but she couldn't decipher it properly, not with Amaya standing this close. Not with their hands entwined, and their gazes fixed on each other.

Forcing herself to relax to the music, her feet followed to the steps of the dance along with Amaya. She didn't spin or twirl or do perform any special moves or something, seeming content with the small space between them. Zari gulped.

Eventually, more pairs gathered into the dance floor. The fairy lights changed into other colors, almost in the pattern of a kaleidoscope.

She never danced much when she was younger. Well, she used to dance with her family during a few celebrations but as she grew older and when A.R.G.U.S grew more corrupted, the opportunities for it grew less. But slow dancing? Ha, it wasn't even her thing.

"So, pretty chill mission, right?" Zari asked, trying to form conversation to distract herself.

She almost froze when the colorful lights fell on Amaya. She kept her eyes on her and she couldn't tear herself away from it.

Amaya nodded. "Too easy. I didn't expect that Mr. Versace wouldn't be too attached to this era, because he seemed so eager to leave it behind. Maybe the clothes here threw him off."

Zari snorted, shaking her head.

"Yeah, the 2000's was a pretty confusing decade from what I know.

"Yeah, sometimes Nate rants about it to me. He considered it to be confusing enough, let alone from memory."

The song took a melancholic turn as the singer sang lyrics about longing and distance. She tried to block thoughts that might relate to it, not wanting it to ruin this dance.

Zari let out a rushed breath. "I really like your costume. It makes you look like a real mysterious kind of person."

"You do?" Amaya asked, slightly coy.

The tender melody played on, and when the spotlight fell on them, Zari slightly lowered her head. She didn't want to look at anyone– except to keep all her focus on Amaya as if she was the only person in the room even though plenty of other people were in it.

"I do, you even actually look better than him," Zari admitted, slightly lifting her gaze. "Than Chiba Mamoru himself, I mean."

"Really?" Amaya's face twisted with a nonplussed expression.

"Well, yeah, you pull this outfit than he can."

Amaya chuckled. "You've seen that show before, Z?"

"Not really, but I've been hearing Nate watching it from down the hall. I hear a lot of Japanese names whenever I try to sneak into the kitchen."

"Nate really needs to keep the volume."

The two of them shared a laugh and Amaya brushed a stray tendril of her wavy hair away. Zari wished she could have let her done that.

"Magical girls and their perfect mysterious boyfriends," Zari murmured, sighing.

"You aren't into how most magical girls find their true love?"

She shrugged, feeling her face scrunch in response.

"Well, it's a fun fantasy and all, just not my thing really. I'd rather be the sarcastic pet sidekick or something."

Amaya laughed, leaning her forehead to hers. She drew her closer if that was possible. Zari shut her eyes, letting the warmth radiate around her. For a moment, this embrace secured her from the troubles in the world, and for once, she kinda felt like a magical girl in the arms of their mysterious love interest. Well, minus the sparkly transformation sequence and pastel outfits.

Too bad, she wasn't Sailor Moon and Amaya wasn't really her Tuxedo Mask.

Once she heard a beep, she knew this was going to be over. The realization hit her square in the chest and threw an anchor to bring her down.

"Time to go, guys," Sara said through the comms. "Looks like our work here's done. I'm outside the building, so you'll have a easy way to spot me."

Sometimes, Zari wished she didn't listen to these orders, so she could steal an extra moment like this with her. However, this specific year wasn't either of their times. As much as she wished to prolong these moments, she could take what was given to her. She enjoyed it while it lasted.

Carefully, Amaya withdrew her hand from hers and dropped her arm away. She pressed a finger over her comms.

"We're on our way," Amaya murmured, nodding. She glanced at her. "We should get back into the ship, Z. Sara's orders and all."

Trying to gain some sense of nonchalance, she relaxed her shoulders and hang her arms at her sides.

"Yeah, we should," Zari whispered, a wistful heaviness settling in her chest. "We should."

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to ramble with me, you can @enchanted-lightning-aes in tumblr!


End file.
